Consolation Prize
by StarryKnight46
Summary: All Severus ever needed was a friend who would listen. SSOC, R&R please! UPDATE- This now has a sequel! Read this, then look at my stories for it!
1. The Meeting

**Consolation Prize**

**Summary: All Severus ever needed was a friend who would listen.**

* * *

**Hear ye, hear ye, in this court, we pledge Starry guilty of borrowing characters from JK Rowling, but as she is mentioning it in the story, she's not guilty. (HINT, HINT, WINK, WINK). Starry also doesn't own Spaghettios or the phrase "Ahh! My feets! They is burning!!"

* * *

****This piece of ultra-fluff is a birthday present for the one and only, super-amazing FireGoddes13! She's a Snape fangirl, and so one day she was being random, and drew a pic of a girl in Slytherin. "It's Snape's girlfriend!" was the answer I got upon asking. So of course, I just **_**had**_** to write a fic for her. Here's the result!

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Meeting 

"Snape, Severus!" The scrawny boy with stringy black hair disentangled himself from the group of eleven-year-olds and walked apprehensively up to the rickety stool upon which sat the famous Sorting Hat. He placed the scrappy-looking hat over his head, and as soon as the hat felt his head, it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"

_Damn, _he thought (he had a large vocabulary for an eleven-year-old), looking longingly at the girl with red hair seated happily at the Gryffindor table; she smiled sadly. _Ah well_, he thought. _Mum and Dad'll be happy, then_.

He strolled over to the table decked in green and silver and took his seat next to a girl with stylishly short, choppy black hair. Her blue eyes were uncharacteristically warm for a Slytherin.

"Hello," he said, by way of introduction. "I'm Severus. What's your name?"

The girl smiled at him and extended her hand. "My name's Isabella. But you can just call me Bella."

Severus looked around at the Gryffindor table. There sat Lily Evans, in all her beauty and splendor, joking happily with a brown-haired girl next to her. A taller boy with unruly black hair and glasses sat next to her. Severus felt a twitch of pure jealousy.

"What's her name?" inquired a voice beside him. He jumped.

"Eh?"

"The girl, with the red hair," Bella asked again, "who is she?"

"She's…uh…a friend of mine," said Severus, all too aware that he was blushing. Luckily for him, Isabella nodded and smiled.

The Headmaster stood up and addressed the students. "Prefects, lead your House to the dormitories, please. Try not to lose the new students." Hurriedly, Severus looked around for the Slytherin prefects; one, he knew, was Lucius Malfoy, the son of one of his father's friends. Lucius was directing the students as if on a podium, yelling, "First years, over here!" He shuffled them out of the Hall and to the right. Severus followed the crowd down to a blank stretch of wall.

"_Leonomort_," said Lucius clearly to the wall.

Immediately it flipped, revealing a spectacular, white-stone room with a large green rug, emerald velvet chairs and sofas, and tables here and there, lighted by a roaring fire. Severus gasped; Bella, beside him, looked awestruck.

Lucius proceeded to give instructions to the first years. Once they were over, Severus bade Bella good night and retreated to his new dormitory.

* * *

_I know, it's short and not SSOC yet, but it's getting there... R&R! Starry_


	2. Interrogation

Le Chapter Deuxième: Interrogation

"Bella!" yelled Severus, spotting his friend across the platform. She had changed in four years; Her hair was still jet-black, though it now fell about her shoulders fetchingly. She'd grown taller. Severus, too, had changed; He was no longer scrawny but taller, with a bit more muscle, and his hair wasn't stringy.

"Severus!" she cried. "Hi! How was your summer?" she asked, with the same curious look she'd worn on the first day they'd met.

"Pretty good. Yours?"

"Ah, not much to share."

Severus immediately spotted Lily across the platform. Her golden-red hair glistened. She was talking to one of her friends. He watched as that smug, arrogant boy, James Potter, suavely came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder, while striking an 'I'm-completely-flawless' pose. She, without looking around, kicked out at his leg; he slunk away, massaging his shin.

"It's Lily again, eh?" asked Bella.

"Yup."

"I think James Potter likes her, don't you?" she asked insistently. Severus sighed. Bella was his best friend, but he'd never told her much about his feelings; indeed, he rarely told anyone about his feelings. _Do girls have this kind of x-ray vision to tell who a guy fancies, _he wondered angrily. He'd never told Bella that he liked Lily Evans, but she certainly wasn't unintelligent. Did she know?

"Anyway, we'd better board the train," Bella said, butting into his thoughts.

The two took a compartment near the back, with Avery, Nott, and Mulciber. The last three were engaged in a ferocious game of Exploding Snap, so Severus and Bella decided not to bother them.

"You like Lily, don't you?" Bella asked, about half an hour later, though it was more a statement than a question. Avery, Nott, and Mulciber were still playing, and therefore oblivious to this conversation.

"Um…" Severus knew he was blushing. Bella grinned. "Thought so."

"You should ask her out," suggested Bella, about thirty seconds later. "She'll be flattered."

"Will she, though?" asked Severus. "Don't girls get embarrassed or something? And what if she says no?"

Bella sighed. "Basic Girls 101 – A girl will do anything to mask her flattery if she's asked out. If the girl says no, she'll be gracious about it…most of the time. You seem like you know her pretty well, so I'm willing to bet that if she does turn you down, she'll do it as kindly as is humanly possible."

"Oh," said Severus. "And, another question. If she does…reject me, how long does it take to get over it?"

"I dunno," replied Bella. "I'm not a guy. And if she does, I'm sure she'll feel horrible." Looking at Severus's face, she added, "Be brave. What's the worst that can happen?"

"I'll get rejected and then die alone and love-deprived."

"Oh, don't be stupid, Severus. It's not the end of the world. And she might even say yes. Who knows? Just give it a try." Seeing that he wasn't easily persuaded, she grinned as she added, "I could be there for moral support."

"No," sighed Severus. "I'll do it. Just…not today."

"Good enough," grinned Bella.


	3. Uh oh, Spaghettios!

Le Chapter Trois: Uh oh, Spaghettios!

Over the next few weeks, Severus had been gathering his courage to ask Lily out. During one particular Potions class, Severus, for one, wasn't paying any attention.

_You like Lily. Just ask her out already!_ thought the predominant part of his mind.

But another part fought back. _You don't want this._

_You do. You've liked Lily for years._

_She's out of your grasp. From the moment you two were in different Houses, you lost all chance of being with her._

_Did not!_

_Your heart isn't hers. You don't like her anymore than you did when you first found out she was a Mudblood._

_She's a good Mudblood!_

_What will your parents think? Their proud son, dating a Mudblood?_

_Dad's a Muggle._

_So? They don't give a damn. And neither do I._

You don't love Lily, Severus! You love- 

"AHH! MY FEETS! THEY IS BURNING!" screeched Bella. Severus jerked out of his argument with himself. He realized that, in his preoccupation, he'd accidentally dripped acid onto Bella's shoes, which were now on fire. He rushed to douse the flame.

"S-sorry," he gasped. "I just wasn't…paying attention."

"I'd noticed," she said brusquely. "May I inquire to ask, what was it that had you so lost in thought that you were driven to torch my feet off?"

"Nothing…" said Severus hastily, withholding his blush rather well.

She smiled. "Are you going to do it?"

"Today, I think," he said, voicing the thought that had been running through his mind all day.

"Good luck!" Bella smiled. Severus was so wrapped up in worry that he didn't notice her smile drop as soon as he turned around.

A few hours later

Bella sat, expectantly, in a green armchair that faced the portrait wall. She examined her black-painted fingernails casually as soon as Severus walked in.

"So, how'd it go?" she asked, in the most hopeful voice she could muster. Severus merely stared at her, squinting for a few seconds, then retreated up to his dormitory.

"Uh oh, Spaghettios…" Bella sang under her breath. She knew she should feel bad for her best friend. She knew she shouldn't be rejoicing inside. But over the years, she had grown jealous of the beautiful, red-haired girl with whom Severus obviously besotted. At first, she was just a minor irritation, as Bella had caught Severus staring randomly at Lily in the middle of a conversation, making Bella feel cut-off.

_I suppose I should go and comfort him…_ she thought. Sighing, Bella got up and trudged up the stairs to the guy's dorms.

"Sev?" she asked quietly, knocking.

"G'way," came the muffled reply.

"Oh, honestly, you're so difficult," Bella said kindly, opening the door anyway.

"I said, go away!" Severus said, more loudly. He was sprawled, facedown, across his bed. Bella walked over, perched lightly on the edge of the bed, and laid a soft hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?" she asked.

"What do you think?" Severus replied bitterly, his voice choked with anger and overwhelming disappointment.

"What happened?"

"Well, I asked her after Transfiguration," Severus said. "Quietly, so no one else heard. She told me that I was a friend, and she didn't return my feelings. Then she asked if we could still just be friends."

"Ah, maybe she was a bit dafter than I'd thought," said Bella sympathetically. "That's about the worst thing you can say to someone you're turning down."

"I'll say," agreed Severus. There was silence for a few moments. Then Severus got up and kicked the side of the bed in frustration.

"I don't _want_ to just be friends!" he cried in anguish. He sat down on the side of the bed, his head in his hands. Bella placed a comforting hand on his shoulder again.

"Maybe you should…just let her go," whispered Bella.

"I c-can't," hissed Severus, repressing a hiccup. "I've known her for so long…"

"If you really love her, you'll let her go," repeated Bella.

"But that's the…problem…" Severus trailed off.

_Fool!_ He yelled at himself. _How could you not see this coming? Lily letting you down, Bella telling you to let her go! You can't do this, Severus!_

_Yes, you can,_ replied that annoying little voice again.

_Can't!_

_Don't say can't. You're just giving up, Severus! Be strong!_

_I don't want to be strong!_

_Okay. Just think about it. You barely even talk to Lily anymore. If you were going to ask someone out, it should be someone you know well!_

_But I've known Lily for-_

_Seven years. And you barely talked to her in the last four. If you ask anyone out, it should be someone you're very close to and talk to often! Someone like-_

"Bella?" he asked suddenly.

"Hm?"

"D'you…" he sighed. "D'you want to go out with me?"

Bella looked surprised, and slightly pleased. "I thought you liked Lily," she asked amusedly.

"I thought I did too."

"Don't force yourself to do this because you can't have what you really want. Be persistent, Severus! Be strong!"

"But I don't want Lily. I've talked to her rarely ever since we came to Hogwarts. I…I need you, Bella."

"Well, I'll say yes, but if I'm not what you need, feel free to say so."

Sev gave her a one-armed hug. "You're the best friend a guy could ask for." Bella smiled to herself.

**Cheers to fluff!!!! Okay, I know it was cliché, but it was tempting. I'm writing a sequel, as well, seeing as this was short and not angsty enough. Happy Birthday, FireGoddes13!!!! Also, review please and thanks a bunch!!**

**Starry**


End file.
